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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider A date with KPE

A date with KPE

Published Apr 26, 2024 11:15 pm

MEDIUM RARE

Jullie Y. Daza

She is a powerhouse in her own right, with a string of accomplishments taller than herself, all of them logged in the private sector. Until now.

When she celebrated her birthday on April 20, who’d have thought she would brag that she’s a senior citizen aged 64? In one part of her parents’ house where decorators had hung balloons, transparent plastic bubbles, and loops of flowers, her guests were asked to greet her “Happy birthday!”, their greetings to be caught on camera and on tape. A few meters away she received her wellwishers. As usual, and even though it was her birthday, Katrina Ponce Enrile was dressed all in black.

Her mother, Cristina, made up for it with her red cocktail dress. Around her table, her best friends gathered, all of them in red. Minutes before the waiters would start serving the first round of aperitifs, the father of the birthday girl quietly made his entrance, President BBM’s Presidential Chief Legal Counsel, the nation’s most famous, most recognizable centenarian, Juan Ponce Enrile.

My tablemates had a good view of guests arriving, we couldn’t miss them and they couldn’t miss us. As Gringo Honasan noted, “Don’t you feel like we’re sort of a reception committee?” Not that we didn’t have VIP’s at our table: Gringo himself, who said he knew “every square inch of this place,” referring to the days when he was JPE’s chief of security; fellow soldier and former ambassador to South Korea Noe Wong; Gwen Pang, sec-gen, and Jenny Munar of Red Cross; Senator Mark and Emily Villar.

Since June 2023, KPE has been secretary (with cabinet rank) of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority. Incidentally, Cagayan hosts a hotel cum casino that’s popular with Taiwanese tourists, who can easily change their money into Philippine pesos.

KPE’s credits in the private sector ran from food manufacturing and canning (Delimondo, her own brand), to Splendido resort on the fringes of Tagaytay-Alfonso, plus a restaurant or two, and Philcomsat, where she served as chairman.

As Gringo and I prepared to take our French leave, I grabbed Katrina for the most important question of the night, “Your birthday wish?” In a voice as calm as her eyes, she replied, “More years for my dad.” 

 

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